MSI GeForce N570 Twin Frozr III Power Edition OC Review

Rating: 8.5.

Today we are looking at a highly modified Nvidia GTX 570 solution from MSI, featuring an uprated power configuration, voltage adjustment and a dual fan Twin Frozr III cooler. Not only has the card been modified from the ground up for ultimate performance, but MSI have included new Propeller Blade fans to enhance airflow by 20 percent. MSI claim that these fans reduce GPU temperature by 18c and fan noise by 7.7 dBa when compared against the reference solution.

This card is built for maximum performance, aided by the 6+1 phase power technology and Triple Overvoltage support which MSI claim enhances overclocking capabilities by 22 percent. The MSI GeForce GTX 570 Twin Frozr III Power Edition is also supplied in a preoverclocked state, with the core clock increased to 770mhz and the 1280MB of GDDR5 memory running at 1000mhz.

Propeller Blade on Twin Frozr III
– Twin Frozr III Thermal Design with 18℃ cooler & 7.7 dB quieter.
– Propeller Blade technology for 20% more airflow.
– Dual 8cm fans with dual 8mm SuperPipes for best heat dissipation.

Power Edition Architecture
– Triple overvoltage function support by MSI Afterburner to raise overclock capability.
– 6+1 Phase PWM Design provides better overclock stability.

MSI Exclusive P/S Switch Function
– Dual fan speed profiles–Performance/Silent.
– Performance Mode provides best cooling demand; Silent Mode balances noise and GPU Temperature.

Military Class II Components
– SFC (Super Ferrite Choke) has higher current for better overclocking ability.
– Hi-C CAP for GPU provides more precise voltage.
– All Solid CAPs have longer lifespan.

The MSI N570 arrives in a very ‘space age' style box with the card presented next to a list of specifications.

With such a complex design, MSI are keen to point out all the benefits, which they do on the gatefold presentation inside.

Inside, there is a driver disc, product overview literature, a mini HDMI to HDMI converter, VGA converter and several power adapters.

The Twin Frozr coolers stand out, as they are constructed from metal, rather than flimsy plastic materials. The dual fans are ‘propeller blade' designs, which angle the air flow for increased performance, while reducing noise.

The card is built around a proprietary, dark brown custom PCB design.

It is SLI capable, in 2 and 3 way configurations.

It requires power from two 6 pin PCI E connectors for stable operation.

There are two DVI connectors on the backplate, and a single mini HDMI connector. MSI include a converter for connection to a standard sized HDMI cable.

The card is a custom design from MSI and it incorporates metal plates to aid with cooling of memory and other PCB components.

The metal cooler is very heavy, featuring 5 thick heatpipes. Three of these heatpipes connect to a rack of aluminum fins on one side of the GPU with two more joining into another smaller rack of fins on the opposite side. Both fans are hardwired into a single connector.

A GPUz overview of the hardware. This card is clocked higher than a reference board, increased to 770mhz core and 1000mhz from the 1280MB of GDDR5 memory which is connected via a 320 bit memory interface. The GF110 core has 480 CUDA cores and 40 ROPS.

On this page we present some super high resolution images of the product taken with the 24.5MP Nikon D3X camera and 24-70mm ED lens. These will take much longer to open due to the dimensions, especially on slower connections. If you use these pictures on another site or publication, please credit Kitguru.net as the owner/source. You can right click and ‘save as’ to your computer to view later.

Today we are using an overclocked Core i7 970 system which is running at 4.33ghz. We thought we would compare against a range of AMD cards which we tested recently, as well as the excellent Powercolor HD6970 Devil 13 2GB video card, which we reviewed on November 28th. This is one of the fastest HD6970's on the market, so it should make for an interesting head to head.

Processor: Core i7 970 @ 4.33ghz
Cooling: Coolit Vantage
Motherboard: MSI X58A-GD65
Chassis: Thermaltake Level 10 GT
Power Supply: Corsair AX1200
Memory: 6GB ADATA @ 2133mhz 9-10-9-32
Storage: Kingston SSDNow V+ 512GB Gen 2 SSD (Storage) / Crucial RealSSD C300 256GB (OS boot)
Monitors: Sharp Aquos 50 inch LCD 1080p.

Comparison Cards:
PowerColor HD6970 Devil 13 2GB
HD6950
HD6870
HD6790
HD6770
HD6670

Software:
Windows 7 Enterprise 64 bit
Catalyst 10.11
ForceWare 285.62 WHQL
Unigine Heaven Benchmark
3DMark Vantage
3DMark 11
Fraps Professional
Steam Client
FurMark

Technical Monitoring and Test Equipment:
Nikon D3X with R1C1 kit
Keithley Integra unit
Thermal Diodes
Raytek Laser Temp Gun 3i LSRC/MT4 Mini Temp
Extech digital sound level meter & SkyTronic DSL 2 Digital Sound Level Meter

Games:
HomeFront
Alien V Predator
Dead Island
Tom Clancy HAWX 2
Resident Evil 5
Lost Planet 2
Far Cry 2
F1 2011
Deus Ex: Human Revolution

All the latest BIOS updates and drivers are used during testing. We perform generally under real world conditions, meaning KitGuru tests games across five closely matched runs and then average out the results to get an accurate median figure. If we use scripted benchmarks, they are mentioned on the relevant page.

Some game descriptions are edited from Wikipedia.

Unigine provides an interesting way to test hardware. It can be easily adapted to various projects due to its elaborated software design and flexible toolset. A lot of their customers claim that they have never seen such extremely-effective code, which is so easy to understand.

Heaven Benchmark is a DirectX 11 GPU benchmark based on advanced Unigine engine from Unigine Corp. It reveals the enchanting magic of floating islands with a tiny village hidden in the cloudy skies. Interactive mode provides emerging experience of exploring the intricate world of steampunk.

Efficient and well-architected framework makes Unigine highly scalable:

• Multiple API (DirectX 9 / DirectX 10 / DirectX 11 / OpenGL) render
• Cross-platform: MS Windows (XP, Vista, Windows 7) / Linux
• Full support of 32bit and 64bit systems
• Multicore CPU support
• Little / big endian support (ready for game consoles)
• Powerful C++ API
• Comprehensive performance profiling system
• Flexible XML-based data structures

We use the following settings: 1920×1080 resolution. Anti Aliasing off. Anisotrophy 4, Tessellation normal. Shaders High. Stereo 3D disabled. API: Direct X 11.

The MSI GTX 570 dominates this benchmark, scoring almost 60 fps at our chosen settings. This is clearly out in front of the Devil 13 HD6970 which averages around 41 fps.

Futuremark released 3DMark Vantage, on April 28, 2008. It is a benchmark based upon DirectX 10, and therefore will only run under Windows Vista (Service Pack 1 is stated as a requirement) and Windows 7. This is the first edition where the feature-restricted, free of charge version could not be used any number of times. 1280×1024 resolution was used with performance settings.

The overclocked Powercolor HD6970 Devil 13 scores slightly more in 3DMark Vantage, although it is quite close.

3DMark 11 is designed for testing DirectX 11 hardware running on Windows 7 and Windows Vista the benchmark includes six all new benchmark tests that make extensive use of all the new features in DirectX 11 including tessellation, compute shaders and multi-threading.

After running the tests 3DMark gives your system a score with larger numbers indicating better performance. Trusted by gamers worldwide to give accurate and unbiased results, 3DMark 11 is the best way to test DirectX 11 under game-like loads.

If you want to learn more about this benchmark, or to buy it yourself, head over to this page.

The MSI N570 takes the top position, outperforming the Powercolor Devil 13 by almost a couple of hundred points.

HQV Benchmark 2.0 is an updated version of the original tool and it consists of various video clips and test patterns which are designed to evalute motion correction, de-interlacing, decoding, noise reduction, detail enhancement and film cadence detection.

There are two versions of the program, standard definition on DVD and high definition on Bluray. As our audience will be concentrating on HD content so will we.

This has a total of 39 video tests which is increased from 23 in the original and the scoring is also up from a total of 130 to 210. As hardware and software gets more complicated, the software has been tuned to make sure we can thoroughly maximise our analysis.

Read our initial analysis over here.

The hardware scores 192 points out of a possible 210 which is close to the leading AMD result (4 points higher).

F1 2011 is the newest Direct X 11 racing game from industry pioneers CodeMasters. The 2011 Formula One season is the 62nd FIA Formula One season. The original calendar consisted of twenty rounds, including the inaugural running of the Indian Grand Prix before the cancellation of the Bahrain Grand Prix. Pirelli returns to the sport as tyre supplier for all teams, taking over from Bridgestone. Red Bull Racing are the reigning Constructor’s Champions. Red Bull Racing’s Sebastian Vettel is the defending Drivers’ Champion, one of five World Champions appearing on the grid.

The overclocked AMD based Powercolor HD6970 scores slightly higher in this test in regards to average frames per second, although the MSI N570 has slightly better minimum frame rate performance.

Homefront’s PC version was developed by Digital Extremes, a Canadian developer responsible for numerous Unreal Tournament games and Bioshock ports. It received mixed reports, although Kitguru really likes the single player aspect of this title. The engine isn’t the most demanding on the market, but it requires decent partnering hardware for solid frame rates at 1080p.

HomeFront isn't an extremely demanding engine, although it requires reasonably powerful hardware to run well at high image quality settings. The MSI N570 Twin Frozr III PE OC takes top performance spot in this game, by a couple of frames per second.

Aliens V Predator has proved to be a big seller since the release and Sega have taken the franchise into new territory after taking it from Sierra. AVP is a Direct X 11 supported title and delivers not only advanced shadow rendering but high quality tessellation for the cards on test today.

To test the cards we used a 1080p resolution with DX11, Texture Quality Very High, MSAA Samples 1, 16 af, ambient occulsion on, shadow complexity high, motion blur on. We use this with most of our graphics card testing so cards are comparable throughout reviews.

Alien V Predator has always performed better with AMD hardware, which is mirrored in these results. The PowerColor Devil 13 manages to pull ahead by around 4 frames per second at these settings.

Dead Island is a first person horror action-adventure video game developed by Techland and published by Deep Silver for Microsoft Windows. It is centered on the challenge of survival on a zombie-infested open world island with a major emphasis on melee combat. It is rather good fun, for a short while, but it becomes repetitive.

A tight run battle between the MSI N570 and the Powercolor Devil 13 HD6970, although the MSI solution just manages to claim the top spot.

Tom Clancy’s H.A.W.X. 2 is an arcade-style flight action game developed by Ubisoft Romania and published by Ubisoft. After the events of the first game, the H.A.W.X squadron is sent to Middle East, where a high level of violence is being registered, and the appearance of various insurgents leaders in various hotspots. The team also has to investigate the mysterious disappearance of Russian nuclear weapons. The player will be controlling three groups: one American (Hunter), one British (Munro) and one Russian (Sokov), each with its own pilots and supporting characters. There will also be references to other characters in the Tom Clancy universe.

We are testing in full DX11 mode with all settings to maximum.

Tom Clancy HAWX 2 has always been an Nvidia favourite engine, and the differences between the leading hardware is very large, with the Powercolor Devil 13 HD6970 lagging by 30 frames per second.

Resident Evil 5, known in Japan as Biohazard 5, is a survival horror third-person shooter video game developed and published by Capcom. The game is the seventh installment in the Resident Evil survival horror series, and was released on March 5, 2009 in Japan and on March 13, 2009 in North America and Europe for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. A Windows version of the game was released on September 15, 2009 in North America, September 17 in Japan and September 18 in Europe. Resident Evil 5 revolves around Chris Redfield and Sheva Alomar as they investigate a terrorist threat in Kijuju, a fictional town in Africa.

Within its first three weeks of release, the game sold over 2 million units worldwide and became the best-selling game of the franchise in the United Kingdom. As of December, 2009, Resident Evil 5 has sold 5.3 million copies worldwide since launch, becoming the best selling Resident Evil game ever made.

An oldie, but a goodie. This Direct X 10 engine still looks great, and proves no problems for any of the cards in the performance graph. The N570 takes the top spot by around 5 frames per second, which might surprise a few people as this engine has always favoured AMD hardware.

Lost Planet 2 is a third-person shooter video game developed and published by Capcom. The game is the sequel to Lost Planet: Extreme Condition, taking place ten years after the events of the first game, on the same fictional planet. We don’t really enjoy playing this game, but the engine is a great Direct X 11 test of modern hardware.

A very demanding Direct X 11 title which can bring lesser discrete graphics cards to their knees. The MSI N570 however leads the performance pack, pulling out well in front of the Powercolor Devil 13 HD 6970.

Far Cry 2 (commonly abbreviated as “FC2 or “fc2″) is an open-ended first-person shooter developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft. It was released on October 21, 2008 in North America and on October 23, 2008 in Europe and Australia. It was made available on Steam on October 22, 2008. Crytek, the developers of the original game, were not involved in the development of Far Cry 2.

Ubisoft has marketed Far Cry 2 as the true sequel to Far Cry, though the sequel has very few noticeable similarities to the original game. Instead, it features completely new characters and setting, as well as a new style of gameplay that allows the player greater freedom to explore different African landscapes such as deserts, jungles, and savannas. The game takes place in a modern-day East African nation in a state of anarchy and civil war. The player takes control of a mercenary on a lengthy journey to locate and assassinate “The Jackal,” a notorious arms dealer.

Far Cry 2 is still a popular game and the open world environment can be taxing on even the latest hardware available today.

Settings: 1920×1200, D3D10, Disable Artificial Intelligence(No), Full Screen, Anti-Aliasing(8x), VSync(No), Overall Quality(Ultra High), Vegetation(Very High), Shading(Ultra High), Terrain(Ultra High), Geometry(Ultra High), Post FX(High), Texture(Ultra High), Shadow(Ultra High), Ambient(High), Hdr(Yes), Bloom(Yes), Fire(Very High), Physics(Very High), RealTrees(Very High).

Another impressive ‘open world' environment based game which still looks good. The MSI N570 leads the pack, by around 8 frames per second.

Deus Ex: Human Revolution is a science fiction action role-playing video game developed by Eidos Montreal and published by Square Enix.

The game is set in 2027, 25 years before the first title, where corporations have extended their influence past the reach of global governments. The game follows Adam Jensen, the security chief for one of the world’s most powerful human augmentation corporations, Sarif Industries. After a devastating attack on Sarif’s headquarters, Adam is forced to undergo radical surgeries that fuse his body with mechanical augmentations, and he is embroiled in the search for those responsible for the attack.

Another win for the MSI N570 graphics card, averaging over 100 frames per second at these settings. Very impressive results indeed.

We have changed our method of measuring noise levels. We have built a system inside a Lian Li chassis with no case fans and have used a fanless cooler on our CPU. We are using a heatpipe based passive power supply and an Intel SSD to keep noise levels to a minimum. The motherboard is also passively cooled. This gives us a build with completely passive cooling and it means we can measure noise of just the graphics card inside the system when we run looped 3dMark tests. Ambient noise in the room is around 20-25dBa. We measure from a distance of around 1 meter from the closed chassis and 4 foot from the ground to mirror a real world situation.

Why do this? Well this means we can eliminate secondary noise pollution in the test room and concentrate on only the video card. It also brings us slightly closer to industry standards, such as DIN 45635.

KitGuru noise guide
10dBA – Normal Breathing/Rustling Leaves
20-25dBA – Whisper
30dBA – High Quality Computer fan
40dBA – A Bubbling Brook, or a Refridgerator
50dBA – Normal Conversation
60dBA – Laughter
70dBA – Vacuum Cleaner or Hairdryer
80dBA – City Traffic or a Garbage Disposal
90dBA – Motorcycle or Lawnmower
100dBA – MP3 player at maximum output
110dBA – Orchestra
120dBA – Front row rock concert/Jet Engine
130dBA – Threshold of Pain
140dBA – Military Jet takeoff/Gunshot (close range)
160dBA – Instant Perforation of eardrum

When idle, the N570 is very quiet, barely audible, even within a few feet. When gaming, the noise increases to just under 33 dBa, which is a great result for a performance oriented discrete graphics solution. Furmark stresses the card a little more, peaking around 35 dBa.

The tests were performed in a controlled air conditioned room with temperatures maintained at a constant 25c – a comfortable environment for the majority of people reading this.

Idle temperatures were measured after sitting at the desktop for 30 minutes. Load measurements were acquired by playing Crysis Warhead for 30 minutes and measuring the peak temperature. We also have included Furmark results, recording maximum temperatures throughout a 30 minute stress test. All fan settings were left on automatic.

The card runs much cooler than the reference solution, peaking at 62c under gaming load. Furmark raises the temperatures to 70c, which is still very impressive. A very noteworthy cooling system indeed.

To test power consumption today we are using a Keithley Integra unit and we measure power consumption from the VGA card inputs, not the system wide drain. We measure results while gaming in Crysis Warhead and record the results.

Power consumption is a little less than the last GTX570 card we reviewed, peaking just under 180 watts when gaming. When idling, it demands 24 watts. The Powercolor Devil 13 HD6970 is slightly more efficient as you can see on this page.

For overclocking today we used the latest beta version of MSI Afterburner 2.2 which allowed us to increase the voltages.

By increasing the core voltage by +87 we achieved a stable overclock at 863mhz. It was possible to improve this a little more, but we noticed some very minor artifacting which could lead to long term problems. We aren't chasing impressive figures on this page, but realistic 24/7 speeds. Due to the voltage increases core temperatures rose by around 3c under load.

The overclocked speeds translate in a rather healthy performance boost, rising from 6,250 points to 6,844 points in 3DMark 11.

Nvidia's GTX570 is a very powerful discrete graphics card, delivering high levels of performance at a modest asking price. Equally so, we have always admired MSI's Twin Frozr coolers, and the latest revision is a substantial design that operates well under stressful situations.

The MSI N570 Twin Frozr III Power Edition OC is a very highly specified, customised version of the reference design and we felt that it should be compared against a ‘pimped out', overclocked AMD solution. We selected the Powercolor HD6970 Devil 13 as the main competitor, having reviewed it only a few weeks ago. It is one of the fastest AMD HD6970's currently available.

In direct head to head battle, the MSI N570 delivers superior levels of performance in almost all of the games we tested, while emitting less noise. The cooler is also superior, as the core temperatures are significantly lower when tasked. The N570 demands more power at the socket too, indicating just how good the Twin Frozr III cooler is.

Currently the pricing is very positive for the MSI GeForce N570 Twin Frozr III Power Edition OC, with SCAN selling it for £274 inc vat. The Powercolor HD6970 Devil 13 doesn't appear to be available yet in the UK, but pricing is said to be around £350 inc vat. While the Powercolor bundle is exceptionally good, overall we feel the MSI card is a better value for money purchase.

Are there any other options around the same price point? Well, buying two HD6870's and running them in Crossfire would outperform either solution in this review, but be aware that sometimes the CF driver profiles can lag behind leading game releases. Two XFX HD6870's for instance cost £138 each, including VAT.

Pros:

• Price is very good.
• Twin Frozr III cooler is exceptionally good.
• Noise emissions are low.
• Overclocked performance is excellent.

Cons:

• Bundle isn't great.

Kitguru says: If you are looking for a high performance graphics card under £300, then this should be at the top of your shortlist.

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